A Slave To The Coin

Emerson Cartwright is a wealthy, respected business man. He’s also a man with an obsession. Doctors, therapists, hypnotists, nothing seems to help him fight the compulsion to pick up found change, to hoard every coin he and his family has every held. When he discovers a hidden letter from his great grandmother, he begins to wonder if this family quirk stems from a sinister deal made long ago. More

Emerson Cartwright is a wealthy, respected business man. He’s also a man with an obsession. Doctors, therapists, hypnotists, nothing seems to help him fight the compulsion to pick up found change, to hoard every coin he and his family has every held. When he discovers a hidden letter from his great grandmother, he begins to wonder if this family quirk stems from a sinister deal made long ago. Emerson desperately wants to break the cycle and shed the burden of this obsession, but the price he needs to pay may be too high.

After majoring in English Literature with a concentration in Medieval and Folklore studies, Debra promptly sold out to the corporate world, occasionally dabbling in writing marketing copy and op/ed articles for a local city paper. By day, she designs compensation programs, after dark she stuffs her nose into obscure mythology, and feverishly writes her novels. A DEMON BOUND is her debut novel. Debra lives on a farm in Maryland with Sweetie, three sons, and a Noah’s ark of four legged family members. Unlike her protagonist, she drives an old PT Cruiser, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground. Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.

Reviews

Review by:
Kim Stapf
on Jan. 14, 2013 :
I gave it five stars because I enjoyed it. It’s a very short story of a family cursed by coins. Edmund couldn’t help but pick up coins, he’s rich, his whole family is. He has a room full of coins passed down by family members for generations. He just wants to walk past a coin without picking it up. Download this free story and find out if the curse can be broken.

(review of free book)

Review by:
Beth Madden
on Dec. 9, 2012 :
Life controlled by his unbearable need to pick up and hoard coins, Emerson Cartwright discovers the origin of his fixation and fights to overcome it, however dire the cost. A Slave To The Coin is a well-written, succinct, and tense story that captures well the desperation and struggles of a man unwillingly obsessed.
Debra Dunbar has created a pitiable yet quite likable protagonist in rich businessman Emerson. Suffering due to another’s choices, I wanted him to succeed, making the story’s ending all that more gripping. I particularly liked the recurring character of the unsettling beggar man, his seemingly harmless requests for spare change taunting and tormenting Emerson.
Quick to read and rather dark, this short story gives a bit of a harsh reminder of how unfair and cruel reality can be, even when reality is somewhat fantastic in nature.